Game



June 15, 1937. H. w. ARMSTRONG I 2,083,540

GAME

Filed April 20, 1955 INVENTOR Jf. Wd rmimrg, M

A RNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAME Henry W. Armstrong,

Short Beach, Conn., as-

signor to- Joseph Schneider, Incorporated, New

York, N. Y.-

Application April 20,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to games of the type in which the surface of a game board is provided with a plurality of ball receiving pockets and barriers variously arranged with respect thereto,

' the said pockets having different arbitrarily as- 1'5 to provide a common operating means for said spaced members, whereby they are simultaneously actuated.

, In one embodiment of the invention said operating means consists of a rod mounted in'suitable guides beneath the game board and manually operable from the front thereof, said pro- .jecting members being fixed to said rod and extending upwardly through slots in the board, and spring means for moving said rod in one direction and controllable by the operator to regulate the striking force of said members against the balls.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the improved game and in the form, construction and relative arrangement of its several parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawing, wherein I have illustrated one practical embodiment of my invention and in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my new game.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal section, taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the projecting members positioned at the moment of impact with the balls.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the game 45 board 5 is mounted above and in spaced relation to the base 6. At their front ends the wall 1 is secured to the base 6 and game board 5 and extends above the latter. The other ends of the board 5 and base 6 are rounded as shown, and 50 a metal guide strip 8 is secured to the opposite side edges and the rounded end edge of the game board and projects above the upper surface thereof.

At one side of the board 5 a sheet metal strip 55 9 is secured to the upper surface of the board 1935, Serial No. 17,435

in spaced parallel relation to the metal strip 8 to form a guideway for the game pieces or balls, indicated at ID.

The game board is supported at a slight longitudinal inclination, as shown in Fig. 2, and at the lower front end of the guideway a suitable housing H is provided for the striker or projector I2, fixed to one end of a rod I3 movable through the front end wall of the housing. A spring l4 surrounds this rod between said housing wall and the striker l2. The'upper Wall of the housing is preferably provided with a longitudinally extending slot [5 and a circular opening l6 at the upper end of said slot, through which the balls ID are inserted into the housing in advance of the striker I2. Suitable graduations I! are provided along opposite edges of said slot. The lower end of the rod l3 has an operating handle l8 attached thereto and between said handle and the end wall of the housing a cushioning spring I9 is interposed.

A sheet metal plate 20, suitably secured to the lower end of the board 5 and the front wall 1, extends above and in spaced relation to the surface of said board. This plate has inwardly and forwardly converging rear edges provided with the downwardly extending flanges 2 I, the lower edges of which are spaced above the surface of the board for a distance less than the diameter of the balls Iii. Thus these flanges direct the balls into engagement with a centrally located stop 22 secured to the upper surface of the board.

The board 5 is provided with a plurality of variously arranged ball receiving pockets 23 to which different values are arbitrarily assigned. These values may may be printed or otherwise applied to the surface of the board adjacent to the respective pockets. Upon the board wire barriers 24 are secured with relation to certain groups of pockets of the higher values. In addition, barrier pins 25 and yieldable ball directing metal strips 26 are provided. The number and arrangement of the pockets, barriers and spring metal directing strips constitute no essential feature of my invention and may be varied at will.

Upon the surface of the board 5, adjacent the upper ends of the spaced barriers 24, short parallel guide wires 21 are secured, to direct the balls into engagement with a stop 28. Above these guide wires and extending to a point near the upper end of the board, parallel track forming wires 29 are arranged and have their opposite ends suitably fixed in the board. The lower end portions of these track wires are sharply inclined downwardly and extend below the stop 28, to discharge the ball between the spaced barrier wires 24. At the upper end of this elevated ball receiving track, a return track 30, formed from a single wire loop, is suitably mounted on the board 5. This return track has a forwardly and upwardly curved end portion positioned over and in spaced relation to the track wires 29 to accurately direct the ball upon the latter, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

In spaced relation to the upper end of the ball guideway a yieldable gate M is mounted on the board and prevents the return movement of the ball into the open end of the guideway. A rebound spring 32 is arranged at the opposite side of the board with respect to said gate, which reverses the movement of the ball along the guide strip 8. The initial velocity of projection of the ball from the housing II is dissipated by the ball encountering the various barrier elements on the surface of the board, and it finally gravitates over the board surface into one of the pockets 23 or comes to rest against the stops 22 or 28.

Forwardly of each of the stops 22 and 28 a movable striker, 33 and 34 respectively, is arranged. While various means may be provided for actuating these strikers, as herein shown, each striker, in the form of a ball or disk, is carried by a vertical arm 35, movable in a slot 36 provided in the board 5. These arms are fixed at their lower ends to a rod 31, longitudinally movable in guides 38 secured to the underside of the board 5. This rod is movable through an opening in the front wall I and its outer end is provided with a suitable operating handle 39 and cushioning spring 40. Between a collar 4! fixed to the rod andcne of the guides 38 an expansion spring 42 surrounds said rod.

From the above description the operation of my improved game will be readily understood. The object of the player is, of course, to place as many balls as possible in the pockets 23 having the higher values. He will, therefore, so operate the projecting device as to cause the balls to be positioned against the stops 22 and 28. Assuming that a ball is engaged with the stop 28, the rod 3'! is then pulled outwardly to compress the spring 42. Upon release of the rod, the striker 34, under the action of the spring 42, strikes the ball ill with such force, as to project the same upwardly on the board and into engagement with the return track 3%, by which the ball is delivered upon the track 29. The ball rolls by gravity down the latter track onto the surface of the board in the area of one group of pockets 23 between the barrier wires 24. The ball may, perhaps, escape these pockets and continue its downward movement until it finally comes to rest against the stop 22. The rod 31 is then again actuated so that the striker 33 will project the ball upwardly toward a second group of pockets of higher values. If desired, the operator can wait until a ball is engaged with each of the stops 22 and 28 so that they will be simultaneously projected over the board surface. The two balls may thus collide in the region of the pockets of highest value and thereby increase the possibilities of a high total score.

From the foregoing it will be seen that my invention provides a game of this kind requiring considerable skill in its successful operation and which engages and holds the interest of the player. The several structural parts of the game are simple and durable so that it may be produced at small cost and is not likely to get out of order. Of course, the surface of the game board may be provided with any desired attractive design.

I have herein shown one simple and satisfactory embodiment of my invention which has given excellent results in practice. However, it will be apparent that the essential features thereof may also be produced in various other alternative structural forms and I accordingly reserve the privilege of resorting to all such legitimate changes in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the several parts as may fairly be considered within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Game apparatus comprising a game board having an inclined playing surface provided with a longitudinally extending group of ball receiving pockets and barriers cooperatively associated with said pockets, stops fixed to the board surface in spaced relation from each end of the .group of pockets to arrest the gravity movement of balls on said surface, a movable striker adjacent to each of said stops, and means for simultaneously actuating said strikers to project balls engaged with the respective stops in the same direction and direct one of said balls towards said group of pockets and the other one of said balls away from said group of pockets, and means for reversing the movement of the latter ball and directing the same towards the group of pockets.

2. Game apparatus comprising a game board having an inclined playing surface provided with a longitudinally extending group of ball receiving pockets and barriers cooperatively associated with said pockets, stops fixed to the surface of the board in spaced relation from each end of the group of pockets to arrest the gravity movement of balls upon said surface, saidboard having a longitudinally extending slot therein adjacent to each of said stops, guides fixed to the underside of the board, a manually operable rod longitudinally slidable in said guides, strikers fixed on said rod projecting upwardly through the respective slots and adapted to deliver impactive blows to balls engaged with said stops, to direct one of said balls towards said group of pockets and the other ball away from said group: of pockets, and means mounted on the playing surface of the board for reversing the movement of the latter ball and directing the same towards the group of pockets.

HENRY W. ARMSTRONG. 

